Hello - new owners and a semi-urgent question (laying eggs?)

[superfly]

Hi Everybody,

Ken & Delaney here. Delaney is 7 and Santa just brought her a new bearded dragon which she's named Fluffy.

Here's fluffy

Fluffy is our first beardie but we owned corn snakes for 15 yrs prior to our dragon. And before owning corns I had wanted a beardie but knew that my travel schedule at the time wasn't conducive to one. So I'm very excited (as is my daughter) that a beardie is now living with us.

So Santa adopted Fluffy from some people in the area and brought her to us. We live in South Florida and they're pretty popular down here.

Fluffy's in pretty good shape and her setup is decent. I'll be looking into upgrading her enclosure and UVB lighting soon though. Yesterday (being Christmas) was our first day with her and she ate some fresh greens and chowed down on crickets. I'm starting her off with 5 crickets per day so she can settle in but she seems pretty comfortable. We've handled her a bit and she does very well.

Now the question... after we handled her this morning she basked for a bit then started digging like crazy. After some quick searching I'm wondering if she might be getting ready to lay. She carved out a hole and has been hanging out in it (yes, sand substrate - I'm looking into tile when I upgrade her enclosure). At the moment she's back to basking. She is pretty plump and the previous owners mentioned they thought she was gravid at one point. She's only supposed to be about 6 months old though. Thoughts? My snakes were male so I never dealt with eggs before.

So hi, we're looking forward to being part of the community and sharing our experiences with Fluffy! And if we are indeed gravid then that will certainly be a new, interesting experience for us.

Ken & Delaney

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Hey,
At 6 months old there is no way she could be gravid.
Dragons are natural diggers tho. She may just be looking for a place to get comfy.
up the cricket amount to all she will eat in 10 to 15 min time period.

 

[superfly]

Thanks for the reply!

I thought it seemed young although we don't know for sure her exact age. Hoping she's just digging.

Well we just fed her a dozen crickets and a couple of superworms. She's a blast to watch when she eats! Now back to happily basking.

The variety of behaviors they have is truly amazing. And our girls are in love Fluffy. Our three year old now wants her own.

 

[LJean]

She is a pretty dragon. Congratulations on getting your first one!
I don't know anything about gravid females, but looking through the boards will help you there. Have you tried feeling for eggs? If she was ready to lay them, I think you would be able to feel them.

 

[fez09]

Hello and welcome! She's got very pretty coloring/markings!!

 

[TwistedCrayon]

Welcome to the boards! I love the name fluffy! Keep the pics coming.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Hello and welcome, cute pooper!

 

[kdh2273]

I am brand new to beardies.... I am extremely curious about the coloring of Fluffy! Absolutely gorgeous.... Is this common? I have only seen red and citrons (yellow and orange). Thanks